Reunited?
by demgrl1991
Summary: The thrid story in my Jackie/ Hyde trilogy. Other two should be read first, but is alright alone. I do not own That 70s Show.
1. She's coming

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Steven Hyde sat in his apartment above Groove flipping mindlessly through the latest edition of "Rolling Stone Magazine". He sighed ruefully, regretting that the music in this magazine wasn't even at the caliber of the Rolling Stones, forget about Zeppelin, at least not anymore. Gone were the days of Kiss and Zeppelin. Even Styx had gone the way of the dodo. Now it was the time of ABBA and David Bowie.

"Crap," he muttered looking at the "Top Ten Songs of the Week" list, "Crap, crap, could be good, but it's the 80's, so it's probably crap. Well, would you look at that, it's ABBA. I thought they disappeared from pop culture around '84. Unfortunately I was wrong…"

Hyde got up from his armchair, pilfered from the Forman's basement in true Hyde style to go get some beer and turn on some REAL music. By which he meant anything but "Mamma Mia".

Having gotten his refreshment, and his own version of 'soul music', he plopped back down on his ass. Hyde stared blankly at the wall and briefly contemplated getting out of the music business. If no one was going to buy anything good, well, he wasn't going to aid and abet in the murder of music. And if rock was on its way out, as he feared it was, he was going to give it the respectful memorial it deserved, not help it on its way out. Because with his love life in shambles, his friends a distant memory, and his family having deserted him as a child, music was the only thing Steven Hyde had left. And he'd be damned if he betrayed it.

He jumped several feet in the air upon hearing a knock on his door. The only people who even had the keys to get them this far were the friends he'd abandoned almost a decade ago, and there was no way they were going to be visiting him now, was there? And if it wasn't them, it was either the cops, or something supernatural, neither of which he wanted to deal with about now. Or, you know, ever.

Tentatively, with a feeling of overwhelming dread, he answered the door. Upon opening it he found an overly concerned Kitty Forman.

"Steven, we need to talk…"

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Jackie Burkhart stared regretfully at the couple sitting across the aisle from her, making out. She wanted to hit him upside the head, and grab her by the hair and yell at her, "Stop kissing him! Don't you realize that he's going to get you pregnant, then, instead of stepping up and being a man, leave you flat on your ass. Hell, if you're as lucky as me, he'll proceed to marry a STRIPPER!"

She bit her tongue and restrained herself for one reason and one reason only, the highly susceptible eight-year-old sitting next to her. The little girl who had lately taken to asking where her daddy was. Okay, and there was the fact that she was a public figure, working for Channel Five News as an anchor as of next week, and a rival network getting wind of Jackie Burkhart going spastic probably wouldn't be for the best.

And then there was the fact that she didn't so much hate them for being in love, and rather showy about it, but rather because that could have been her. A decade previously that had been her. And now she was the single mother struggling to just get by. She had thought having an adoring mini-me and the job of her dreams would have made her happy, but in reality it only made her regret what she didn't have that much more. What she didn't have was the love of her life, a support system, someone to help her raise Beth right. What she didn't have was Steven Hyde.

Over the intercom the stewardess announced that they would be landing in Madison in fifteen minutes. Jackie tore her gaze away from the lovers, and quickly made sure that everything she and her daughter had packed was securely tucked away, then looked through her notes for her first day of work one last time.

"Five minutes to landing."

Beth started crying. She always had been afraid of airplanes.

And a single tear dripped down Jackie's cheek, despite her best efforts not to give into emotion.

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After Hyde moved aside to let her pass through the door Mrs. Forman began pacing around his apartment, wringing her hands nervously. The notoriously unfeeling Steven Hyde began to feel nervous. Had someone died? Was someone sick?

"Steven," Mrs. Forman began, her voice starting out strong, then faltering around the 'V' in his name, and fading out by the 'N". She swallowed, and tried again. "Steven, there's something you should… you should know."

"Uh-huh…"

"It's, well," Mrs. Forman stammered, "well, it's about…Jackie?" she said the last word hesitantly and questioningly.

Against his will, Hyde's pulse began to speed up, and he was fairly certain his blood pressure went up a few notches in that moment. Still, he managed to make his response sound fairly Zen, "What about her?"

"Well, she's coming hbleompe."

"What was that last word?"

"Hbleompe" Mrs. Forman muttered.

"Come again?" Hyde responded, hoping he hadn't just heard what he suspected he had.

"Home."

_Oh crap._

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"Thank you very much for the ride, and I'm so sorry about Beth here's rather, erm, intrusive questions." Jackie said as she paid the cab driver, tipping him amply to express her gratitude for his willingness to listen to all her daughter's questions, and actually answer them. That last bit had been rather unexpected.

"It was a pleasure, ma'am," he replied, tipping his cap first to her, then stooping down and doing the same for Beth.

With a sigh, Jackie gulped back her tears and rang Donna Pincoitti-Forman's doorbell, grateful to, at the very least, have a place to stay for the night.

As she waited for Donna to open the door and take her in, one overwhelming, overbearing thought consumed her. She was _home_. And tomorrow, she would, in all likelihood, see _Steven_.


	2. Home

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Jackie Burkhart was coming back. She'd gotten her ass out of what Hyde now had to admit was something of a one-horse town so fast a decade ago, never looking behind her to see who she was leaving behind, and now she was coming home. Kitty Forman was sitting across from him, trying to look contrite for his sake, but he could tell she was as giddy as a school girl at the return of the prodigal daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Forman always had loved Jackie, in fact he suspected that Jackie was the only one of Eric's friends that Red Forman could stand.

Hyde cursed. Jackie, the girl he could now admit he'd never really gotten over, was coming back into his life. And she had probably brought her latest paramour with her, as well as her daughter whose very existence made Hyde feel like someone was wedging glass into his heart. She'd probably also bring the kid's father with her. No matter how hard he tried to avoid her, and try he would, he had no chance what so ever of managing to keep from running into her in town, Point Place was just so small. Besides, there was a very real chance that she'd come to Grooves and rub her successful life, and her lover, in his face. She wasn't what he'd call spiteful, but turnabout WAS fair play, and God knows he rubbed Sam in her face till the cows came home. Much as Steven Hyde was loathe to admit it, he did sort of deserve whatever she threw his way.

He hit the wall, managing to hurt his hand far more than the infrastructure.

Kitty shook her head sadly. "Steven, I just want you to know, I'm sorry. So very sorry."

"Thanks for coming here to warn me. I appreciate it."

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Jacqueline Forman opened her front door for her godmother and namesake, her father in quick pursuit.

"Don't open the door sweetheart, you don't know who might be outside!" Eric yelled from a few yards behind. "Oh. Jackie. It's you. Good. Donna was getting worried, you were kind of late. Uh, come in."

Tentatively, Jackie stepped foot over the threshold. She'd never actually been in Eric and Donna's house, every time they'd met since the Great Escape of '79, Jackie had avoided Point Place, and indeed the entire state of Wisconsin like the plague, and had met up with her friends in Manhattan. She'd only actually come home once, for Jacqueline Forman's baptism, and that had been a quick in and out, almost more of a pit stop, driving in ten minutes before the baptism began and leaving the moment it was over. Taking great precaution to never find herself alone with Steven Hyde. This town wasn't her home anymore, and she didn't belong here, she'd told herself. Not as long as HE called it home.

But now it was her home. She lived here. She was staying with her best friend and her family until she could procure for herself a house of her own. A house as far away from Grooves as she could manage. Even if they were going to live in the same town, there was no way she was going to come into contact with Steven Hyde.

"Welcome home," Eric said, breaking her out of her reverie. "The guest room is up the stairs and to the right, and we decided that Beth could reside with Jacqueline for the duration of your stay. Uh, I don't really know what to say, I'm not good at greeting long lost friends. All I can really tell you is that Donna's down at the radio station, but she'll be home in about twenty minutes. You, uh, wanna go unpack your bags? Oh, Beth doesn't mind staying with a four year old, does she? We'd put her somewhere else, but it's the only furnished bedroom we have…"

Jackie just laughed, half out of sadness, half out of how silly Eric sounded. "Nah," she said, responding to the only part of Eric's monologue she felt comfortable answering. "She's always wanted an little sister, so she'll find it fun."

Eric smiled. "Cool. By the way, Fez, Laurie, Kelso and Brooke are coming by tomorrow, they all really wanted to see you, you don't mind, do you."

"Huh-uh. However, I do have a question- _Laurie_ really wants to see me?"

"Well, her husband does, and she's coming along for the ride."

Jackie grinned. "Well, it's fine as long as Laurie's nice."

Eric shook his head. "Have you _met_ my psycho sister?"

Jackie laughed. On the other hand, perhaps it was good to be home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 25 Minutes Later~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Donna Pinciotti-Forman strode through her front door, feeling the success of a good days work. The radio company which she now owned had, in just one day, acquired two new DJ's for its title station, and brought a new station into the fold. _All in a day's work_, she thought to herself. And best of all, she'd just gotten a call from Eric that Jackie was arrived. She was about to see her best friend for the first time in seven months.

Just as she was about to announce her presence, her daughter came barreling towards her, screaming. "MOMMY! YOUR HOME!" her daughter screeched in a voice highly reminiscent of her namesake's shrill voice back in the good old days. In fact, Donna realized upon thinking of it, Jacqueline actually was a lot like Jackie Burkhart. She loved shiny things, as well as the sound of her own voice. She, even at the age of four, always put on an overly cheerful façade, but when she was alone with the people she really trusted she opened up, and showed a whole new side of her, a more vulnerable side.

Jacqueline was also a lot like what Jackie was back in middle school, and the beginning of high school, incredibly trusting and somewhat naïve, and sure that the world really was her oyster. Of course, since then Jackie Burkhart had turned… cynical. Of course, she had every reason to, she'd been abandoned by her parents, then the love of her life had run away from her and married a stripper. Donna clutched her daughter just a bit tighter, and vowed to herself that this Jacqueline would_ never_ have to go through what her godmother had been forced to endure.

Donna was broken out of her thoughts by a subtle cough coming from behind her. She turned around and saw Eric and Jackie standing by the staircase.

"Hi honey. Welcome home. Oh, guess what, the devil has arrived."

Jackie elbowed Eric good naturedly.

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~*~Next Day~*~

Steven Hyde decided that it was, quite frankly, not in his best interests to go to work that day, and, being both the proprietor of the record store, and the boss' son, and not actually having any employees at the present time, it wouldn't hurt anything if Grooves just remained closed for a day. Besides, the longer he avoided being seen in public, the longer he could avoid Jackie Burkhart. And he was not in the mood to see her today. He, quite simply, was not in a good place right now to have his heart broken.

Especially when that would require admitting that he _had_ a heart. Hyde was quite content to let the childhood allusion that he, Eric, and Kelso were just like the characters from _The Wizard of Oz_. Eric was the lion, no courage. Due to he was scared of spiders, and girls. Kelso was like the scarecrow, no brains. As evidenced by the enormous frequency with which he set things on fire or glued himself to something, or someone. And he, Steven J. Hyde, was like the tin man. He had no heart, and he had no feelings.

With a self given day off, and the inability to leave his apartment, because if he did he might run into Jackie, Hyde realized he had nothing better to do, and rolled over and went back to sleep. Maybe later, if he got up the energy, he could have a little circle time, he decided. Though he had to admit, circle time wasn't that much fun when you had to do it all by yourself.


End file.
